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Instant Reaction: Texas capitalizes on Houston Christian miscues to advance in Austin regional

Joe Cookby:Joe Cook•05/30/25•

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Grayson Saunier
Grayson Saunier Sara Diggins/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Texas decided to play in the first game of the Austin regional, a game that started at 1 p.m. That may have had something to do with the slow start, as it took a few innings for the Longhorn offense to string together hits that threatened to blow open the game. Once they did in the fifth, they cruised to a 7-1 win over the still snoozing Houston Christian Huskies to advance to the winners bracket in the Austin regional.

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A few takeaways…

***Aggressive baserunning helped the Longhorns put their first couple of runs on the board in the third. Will Gasparino and Jonah Williams reading the pitcher and making good decisions on the basepaths put the Longhorns in position to score. An Ethan Mendoza grounder brought home Gasparino for the game’s first run. A few batters later, Max Belyeu smoked a pitch into the shift to right for quite possibly the hardest contact to be ruled an error in 2025.

It brought home Williams and put Texas up 2-0 after a missed opportunity in the first. The ability for those runs to be batted in (or brought in) rested significantly on the way the Horns manipulated the game on the bases.

***Coaches like to tell their team never to give up more than three outs in an inning. Because HCU gave up four outs in the bottom of the fifth, Texas was able to score five runs. It started with Williams reaching on an error. Then, two outs followed and it looked like Texas might squander an opportunity with two runners in scoring position. Kimble Schuessler wouldn’t let that happen. A looping single into left plated two even though Mendoza failed to slide into home.

***The extra opportunity afforded by Houston Christian’s defensive miscues helped Texas blow open the game during the UT lineup’s third time facing HCU starter Parker Edwards. Schuessler started a stretch of five consecutive hits. He was followed by three singles via Adrian Rodriguez, Jalin Flores, and Casey Borba before Gasparino doubled to put the fifth run of the inning on the board. It needed another chance, but Texas made the most of it then and throughout the day. The Longhorns were 6-for-17 with runners in scoring position. Six of the Longhorns’ seven runs were unearned. Gasparino’s double was the only extra base hit for the Horns in the game.

***On the mound, Ethan Walker’s first inning of work looked to be a continuation of his performance offered last week in the SEC Tournament. The second inning was where that trend ended. The task of picking up the team in a ‘Johnny Allstaff’ day then rested on Grayson Saunier and he delivered. Saunier pitched 3.2 innings of one-run ball, allowing five hits. HCU scratched their only run of the game across in the fourth, with Jeremy Radar bringing his man home. But Saunier didn’t let any other Husky score and did well to keep things moving on a day Texas wanted to rest its top arms ahead of a game versus UTSA or Kansas State.

***Texas didn’t have to use priority arms like Dylan Volantis, Kade Bing, Andre Duplantier, or Max Grubbs during the win. That’s a win in and of itself, and much of it is due to Saunier and then the man who followed him in Hudson Hamilton. Making just his eighth appearance of the 2025 season, Hamilton successfully deployed the rare pickoff move to third base to record the second out of the sixth. Then he notched a strikeout to get out of the inning. Hamilton did the Longhorns a solid in retiring 10 in a row at one point and finishing the game strong in the ninth.

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***Texas probably would liked to have recorded more than one extra base hit. But the singles and batted balls that HCU couldn’t handle helped the Horns put seven on the board and advance closer to the super regional round of the NCAA Tournament with the entire complement of its best throwers at the ready for whoever wins between Kansas State and UTSA later tonight.

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